Dreaming A Disconnected Dream: ‘The Shape of the Night’ (Review)
LA’s All of Them Witches throws a party that’s more of a show, stages a show that’s more of a party
While All of Them Witches has been around for a few years, the collective have yet to put on a stand alone, ticketed experience in their hometown of Los Angeles. That changed this past weekend when the supergroup of creators brought The Shape of the Night to Ktown in a space tucked behind a mattress store; a fitting location for a show about dreams.
Dreams and their logic, or lack thereof, are the throughline of the show. However, that theme feels at odds with the show’s structure and marketing. The show was marketed as an “immersive party,” but it’s much closer to an actual show made of a bunch of pieces. It’s actually part Sleep-No-More-style sandbox, part interactive exhibit, and part puzzle hunt with a dash of party thrown in. and. Some of the characters looped (again, in a Sleep No More style), some of the characters were willing to chat with you or tell you their story, and some would invite you in for an activity. In theory, that sounds like a fun experience! In practice, it felt like a show that wanted to go in too many different directions.
This range of directions, when combined with the show’s realm of dream logic, doesn’t quite add up. The premise is solid: dreams function as a mishmash of your subconscious and that’s represented through the various areas and plot lines. The sets all look great and capture different aspects of dream or nightmare scenarios (not surprising given the E3W crew’s inclusion). But when The Shape of the Night opens by nodding to lucid dreaming and allows audiences to control where they go in the dream, it runs into issues.
Dream logic is a very specific feeling and one that’s hard to recreate in real, waking life. Moving through the disconnected spaces without any kind of guide or transitional moments ends up making the entire show feel disjointed (and not in a disorienting dream-like way). It’s a nice idea to offer an audience different ways to “play” a show. But it also means that if they’re inclined to try out all of the options, they may not go deep enough on any of them to find the emotional impact or see how a story or interaction ends.
Get Kevin Gossett’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
SubscribeSubscribe
I spent a good chunk of my evening solving the puzzles at the behest of the High Minister of Somnolent Affairs (a wonderfully wordless Tommy Honton). The series of puzzles encouraged exploration of the space, especially for areas where things would happen throughout the night. While working on the puzzles, I would watch a scene play out if it was near me or hang around to see if something would happen. Sometimes I would put the puzzles down just to enjoy the show, or I’d watch a looping character walk by with the option to follow, but there was always a slight pull to go back and finish the puzzles I had started. Other times, a looping character might walk by one of the exhibits as they were letting in a small group and I had to choose what I wanted to do.
The Shape of the Night was trying to offer so many options that made it hard to focus on any specific one. Instead of being a really excellent party, or a sandbox-style show, or an immersive exhibit, it’s just an okay version of all of those things mashed together.
The finale highlights that everyone’s “shape of the night” was different, so it does seem as if these options and the ability to float between them was an intentional choice by AOTW. In the end though, it doesn’t let the interesting ideas, the fun performances, and the strong production design add up to something cohesive and impactful. The show does somewhat succeed in feeling like a dream with its fantastical imagery, odd characters, and circuitous pathways that lead deeper into its stories. And, like a dream, I had a pleasant-enough feeling afterwards, but I left struggling to understand what it all meant.
Discover the latest immersive events, festivals, workshops, and more at our new site EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE, new home of NoPro’s show listings.
NoPro is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers. Join them today!
In addition to the No Proscenium website, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, in the Facebook community Everything Immersive, and on our Patreon Backer exclusive Discord.